Fingal councillors rezone enough land for 5,000 homes, eating into greenbelt

Fingal councillors agreed to rezone 61 hectares of land across 11 sites in north county Dublin on Monday evening.

The decision to change the zoning at these sites in Dublin 15 and east Fingal to residential makes room for the construction of up to 2,500 homes.

But, the agreed rezoning of these lands in areas including Clonsilla, Skerries, Lusk, Malahide, Kinsealy and Clongriffin also eats into Fingal’s greenbelt.

During the five and a half hour meeting, Green Party Councillor David Healy argued there are other lands the council could rezone to make room for more housing instead. 

“We’re only looking at greenbelt and rural sites for zoning when we have potential of much better sites,” Healy said.

He tabled motions asking councillors to retain the zonings of all of the lands currently zoned as greenbelt, open space and rural in Fingal’s development plan for 2024 to 2029 – and put forward alternatives.

But each of these motions was defeated.

As well as rezoning these lands residential, councillors also agreed to speed up the development of lands that were designated as part of Fingal’s long-term strategic reserve in Dunsink, just north of Blanchardstown.

This would allow for the development of 2,500 more homes, with “minimal infrastructural requirements”, Róisín Burke, Fingal’s senior planner, told the council.

These changes “will provide essential headroom to attract investment in housing, and accelerate delivery of private, affordable, cost-rental and social homes”, said Mayor Tom O’Leary, a Fine Gael councillor, during the meeting. 

All this was done to meet demands from the central government to councils across the country to rezone more land residential, to allow for the construction of more housing.

But, some councillors disputed whether the shortage of residentially zoned land is causing the housing crisis. “That’s completely fictional,” said Labour Councillor John Walsh.

Walsh agreed with some elements of the variation, like the bringing forward of Dunsink as a new residential area, he said. But, “what is clear is that today, there are 56 inactive sites [with planning permission] across Fingal on which not a shovel has been put in the ground.”

Under orders from government, Fingal plans to rezone even more land for housing

Council managers are on the hunt now for sites.

Dublin InQuirerMichael Lanigan

Eating into the green belt

While the council eventually voted in support of the changes, some councillors first raised concerns at the chief executive’s recommendation to rezone greenbelt lands.

These included sites at School Lane in Balrothery, Homepatrick in Skerries, Seamount and Broomfield West in Malahide, Hole in the Wall Road in Clongriffin, Kinsealy Lane and Greenwood in Kinsealy, and a site west of Barnhill in Dublin 15.

Also part of the discussion were sites at Causetown and Racecourse Road in Lusk that were zoned rural, and a site off the Clonsilla Road that was zoned open space.

Healy, the Green Party councillor, tabled multiple motions asking the chamber to retain these zonings, and instead redevelop underused urban and brownfield sites.

Specifically, he proposed rezoning lands by the Navan Road Parkway train station in Dublin 15 from high-technology to residential. And rezoning the Wavin site, located by the R132, on the outskirts of Balbriggan from general employment to residential.

“I believe it is much more in keeping with our policies and with national and regional policies for us to develop the brownfield sites, and sites right beside high quality public transport,” Healy said.

Independent Councillor Jimmy Guerin cast doubts on whether it would be possible to rezone Healy’s proposed alternative sites before the end of the current development plan.

To do so, the council executive would have to go back to the drawing board and bring the proposed variations to the development plan – the rezonings – through the whole process that the ones on the table on Monday night had already been through.

Healy’s suggested rezonings might be good in the future, Guerin said. But, “there is no way that, with all the work that would have to be done in demolitions and moving and environmental studies and all that, I couldn’t see that site ready within three years for an application”.

But there is no harm in going back to the drawing board and putting a new proposal out for public display, Labour Councillor James Humphreys said. “The public should have an input and a say. It shouldn’t be something that we should be fearful of, or try to avoid.”

It felt like being stuck in a terrible dilemma, Labour Councillor Mary McCamley said during Healy’s motion to retain the greenbelt zoning at Seamount, outside Malahide. “I don’t know what to do. I feel like, if I don’t vote [for it], I’m voting against housing. If I do vote, I’m voting against greenbelt.”

She has been wondering what to do for weeks, she said. “Like, I’m looking at that bit of land. That’s a lot of land to try and put more housing on.”

McCamley, and her Labour colleagues, voted in support of Healy’s motion to keep Seamount’s greenbelt zoning.

But, like his other motions, it was defeated by 12 votes to 20.